Dark
by calma-llama
Summary: Alternate Ending where Robin is held prisoner for disobeying Slade so many times in the episode "Apprentice" and Slade decides to take matters into his own hands.


He'd always believed himself to be well acquainted with the shadows. He considered the darkness his friend.

But, this darkness was..._Different._

Before, whenever there was darkness in his life, there had always been some sort of light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how distant or faint, to keep him moving forward in the right direction. To remind him that there was a tomorrow...That not all was lost.

In this foul, freezing prison cell, he was becoming familiarized with an entirely new breed of darkness. The kind of darkness that claws its way into your body and consumes every ray of light that stands in its way. The kind of darkness that consumes so fiercely that the very thought of warmth was banished from his mind. He had never encountered a darkness so..._Bloodthristy._

There was next to nothing to keep him from slipping into oblivion...Nothing to keep him from crossing the line into insanity. Every second he spent laying in there, he could feel himself descending deeper and deeper into the black abyss.

A frigid gust of air tore at his being and he shivered. He'd been cold for so long, he could no longer remember what it felt like to be warm. He could no longer picture what it was like to be joyous or comfortable...What it felt like to be _safe._

This was his punishment though...For being unable to do his job correctly. For being the weak teenager he really was. This is what he deserved. This was what all people like him deserved.

Liar. Traitor. Backstabber.

These were such _ugly _words. They were so _dirty. _Never in his life could he have imagined they would one day taint his name. But he had to face the facts.

He was a liar, traitor and backstabber. He was tainted.

He attempted to curl up, trying his hardest to find even the smallest bit of heat his beaten body could muster. But is body refused to comply. It must've had something to do with the pool of his own blood he was laying in. Blood loss, broken bones, bruises, scratches...They all seemed to add to his inability to find warmth. He wasn't used to being this weak. He wasn't used to being this battered. He wasn't used to feeling this _cold _and _worthless._

He wasn't used to losing. He wasn't prepared for it.

Bitterness had long since burrowed itself like a leech in his brain. He felt bitter towards himself and everything he did, good or bad. It had become a part of him, it had become second nature. But, he didn't feel bitter for making the most amazing friends he could ever have. He didn't regret that decision.

He'd protected them and grown close to each one. But then...Slade turned him against them. He became the traitor as he had feared. He blurred the line between good and evil. When he disobeyed his master, he was no longer his apprentice, but his prisoner. Every single day, he paid for it. At least he had managed to keep his team safe..Or _alive _rather.

He heard a door swing open down the hallway and flinched, his body tensing. His eyes slid shut and he mentally began to prepare himself for the thrashing that always followed.

They flew back open in shock when he heard the sound of a struggle.

"Let us go!"

"Release us if you know what's good for you!"

He heard hoarse voices cough out weakly. Whatever blood was left in his veins turned to ice. His heart, miraculously still beating, plummeted to his stomach. He couldn't breathe.

He'd recognize those voices _anywhere_.

"Activate the Nanoscopic Probes."

Beast Boy and Starfire's pained screams echoed throughout the dungeon. He forced himself up on shaky legs and fell heavily against the metal bars of his cell. Each one of their cries sent an actual jolt of pain shooting through his own body.

"Now, I'll ask you nicely this time." Slade smirked as his boots clicked against the floor. "Where are the other Titans?"

It was quiet for a few minutes before he heard Beast Boy choke out. "In your dreams."

"Have it your way."

Their anguished screeches began anew, but he could barely hear it over somebody else's yelling. It took him a few moments to realize that the yelling was coming from his broken body.

"Stop! Leave them alone! Your fight is with me and only me, Slade! I'm the one who failed to steal for you, I'm the one who disobeyed! Leave them out of this!" Robin roared, gripping the metal bars to keep his legs from buckling beneath him.

"...Robin?" Starfire's small voice barely carried through to him.

"Robin, Robin, Robin..." Slade spoke, his voice bouncing off the metal walls. "You know I love to collect things. I already have you, my failed apprentice, now I have two more. Only two left to complete my set. It seems I was wrong about you. You aren't the perfect pupil because you have a soft spot for your former team. I have a theory though." He paused. "Soft spots are weaknesses...And weaknesses must be beaten till they aren't weaknesses anymore. I think, to rid my apprentice of his traitor like tendencies, we must rid him of his weaknesses."

Before Robin could even comprehend Slade's words, his teammates' ear splitting shrieks of agony began. They wouldn't stop. Nothing would stop. He threw himself against the bars till his broken ribs and trembling legs could no longer stand it, he screamed until his throat dried, he begged and pleaded for Slade to kill him instead. Then their screams faded into silence.

He collapsed to the floor, his body finally reaching its capacity. He quivered and whimpered.

He wasn't just a traitor...He was completely and utterly _useless_.

His dearest friends were dying...And he could do _nothing _to save them. Slade's cruel laughter hurt as much as any beating. He tried to force himself up once more...To force himself to crawl out of the consuming darkness he'd been resisting and fight for the people he loved.

The team had always been the light of his life, one of the only things that kept him going and hopeful. They made him look forward to another day. But, as he was forced to listen to that light being extinguished, he could do nothing more than lay there in his own blood and wait for the darkness to corrupt him entirely.

He had always believed himself to be well acquainted with the dark...

But he now understood how wrong he was.


End file.
